Interview With a Musician

            I interviewed Neil Bradley Owen, a local songwriter/guitarist/musician for his music knowledge and opinions. He has been playing the guitar and singing since the age of 11, has produced and sold thousands of albums, and has won several musical competitions to which he has been invited.

Courtesy of www.neilbradleyowen.com

There were some interesting things that I learned during this interview. There are definitely good questions to ask and better questions to ask during an interview. One question that I really got some good info out of was, “What kind of effects has guitar playing and singing had on you?” to which he replied, “It’s allowed me to express my feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Writing out your emotions. It’s a form of expression.”

Neil continued that being a musician immediately makes you part of a specific community, which allows you to befriend others with like commonalities. I will use this in my research paper to the appeal of pathos, arguing that all children as well as adults desire to belong to communities in which they share camaraderie and friendship.

He cites multiple benefits, specifically social benefits from musical instrument playing because, “Everybody loves music, so it gives you recognition for a talent and you get to know others who appreciate your expression,” as well as intellectual benefits since, “…anytime you are expressing an art form, it expands your mind, motor coordination, hand-eye coordination, etc. …it’s a skill and it will simply improve yourself.”

This will be utilized in my paper as a logos/pathos appeal. Whether adults are considering learning an instrument themselves, or having their children learn, there are multiple benefits from the knowledge that will come (logos because it’s logical to do something if there are associated benefits and pathos because adults naturally want what is best for their children and what will make them well-rounded successful people). When I’ve gotten more research and thought out the ideas more, I will tie this into why the ukulele should definitely be considered as a starting point.